Nutcracker with an adjustable sliding jaw



Nov. 23, 1948. ,w.- M. GALLAGHER 2,454,601

NUTCRACKER WITH AN ADJUSTABLE SLIDING JAY] F1168 April 12, 1945 Patented Nov. 23, 1948 2,454,601

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE :NUTCRACKER WITH AN ADJUSTABLE SLIDING... AW

William M. Gallagher, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application April :12, 1945, Serial No. 587,871

'2Claim5. (Cl.1'46-16) This invention relates to nut crackers. In the drawings:

An object of the invention is the provision of Fig. 1 is .a ,side view in elevation of .a nut a nut cracker in which a pair of substantially cracker (constructed according to the principles rigid arms are connected together at a pair of f my i ention, j t ends y p member 50 that .5 Fig.2 is afront end view in elevation of the nut the free ends of the arms will tend to be spread cker, apart whilepe-rmitting the free ends to be mo e Fig. Bis a view'in perspective of a movableiaw. towards .each other when cracking a Hut, 5 And Fig. 4is an enlarged vertical sectiont'aken projecting from each arm intermediate the ends along the line 4 4 f Fig 1 thereof with the free ends of the lugs d pted Referring more particularly to the -drawings, to Contact each other when the free ends of the in generally designates a spring -member which arms are moved towards each other for limiting has a thickened portion H and a pair f Semithe inward movement of said arms and therefore circular members 1 controlling the crushing pressure of a pair of arm 3 is connected to t member In by jaws on the arms and adjacent the lugs for the semi-circular spring portion I2. An =arm venting the meats of the nuts from :becoming M is connected to the member :In by th broken circular spring portion 12. The semi-circular Another obl'ect of the Invent-Jon is the prom members 112 are formed :of spring steel in order sion of nut Cracker in a pair of arms tomaintain the free ends of arms "[3 and l-4 outare connected together at one end by a spring member, thereby leaving the other ends of the arms free to be manipulated, means being employed for limiting the inward movement of the free ends of the arms for controlling the breaking pressure on the nuts, one of the arms having a nut receiving jaw, the other arm having a wedgeshaped jaw adjustably mounted thereon for taking care of nuts of various diameters.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a nut cracker in which a pair of arms are connected together by a spring so the opposite ends will be free for movement towards or away from each other, said arms intermediate the ends being provided with the lugs being in alinement so that their free ends will contact and limit the inward movement of the arms, one of the arms adjacent the lug thereon being provided with the fixed jaw to receive a portion of a nut,

wardly from each other so that when the arms 7 are moved towards each other manually and then released, the free ends of the arms will spring apart. 25 The arm I3 is provided with a lug I5 projecting towards a lug IS on the arm M. The free ends of these lugs are spaced from each other but are adapted to come into contact with each other when the arms [3 and M are moved together. These lugs are of sufficient length to permit the cracking of the shell of the nut before the lugs contact in order to prevent the crushing of the meat of the nuts.

The arm I3 is provided with a curved seat or jaw 20 and it will be noted from Fig. 1 that one side face of the lug I5 is curved; and this curved face merges into the curved seat 20 which is adapted to receive a portion of a nut to be cracked.

- The lug l6 as shown more particularly in Fig. one face of the lug on the last mentioned arm being curved towards the jaw, the lug on the 4 1S D ed w t 2842 slittil l. b'It'htlS sl calt1 hasf an other arm being provided with a slot, a wedgeunder'cut portlon a e O om ereo 0 shaped jaw slidable on the last mentioned arm teceive the lateral ,flanges 23 of wedge'shaped and received by the slot, said wedge-shaped jaw Jaw generatly deslgnated the numeral being movable towards or away from the Spring The slot 2| is of suflicient height that the wedgemember to accommodate nuts of various diame- ,5 Shaped jaw 25 may be moved forwardly rear" ters, between the movable jaw and the fixed jaw. wardly of the arm to take care of nuts of This invention 1 be best understood fr m a different diameters. Naturally, for smaller nuts consideration of the following detailed descripthe Wedge'shaped member 25 will be moved tion, in view of the accompanying drawings formtowards the member For large nuts the ing a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is p d em W be ste t w to be understood that the invention is not conthe free 6nd of the arm fined to the disclosure, being susceptible of such It will be noted from Fi 1 that e under-Cut changes and modifications as define no material po of the S 2 extends through the Portion departure from the salient features of the in- 26 of the arm I4 so that the lateral flanges 22 vention as expressed in the appended claims. when engaged by the under-cut portions in the 3 handle I4 will hold the jaw in place and said jaw 25 will not fall out of the handle.

A pin 30 extends laterally from the larger end of the jaw 25; and this pin may be grasped when the jaw is moved back or forth to its adjusted position.

The lug l6 has a curved end wall 3| as shown in Fig. 1 which will partially act as a guide or -stop for maintaining the nuts 3-2 between the jaw 20 and the jaw 25.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The inner free ends of the lugs l5 and IE are normally spaced apart a pre-determined distance and maintained in this position by the spring members [2 as shown in Fig. 1 and a nut is placed between the jaws 20 and 25. The movable jaw 25 is adjusted to a position so that its upper face will neatly engage the bottom portion of the nut 32 while the upper portion of the nut is received by the curved jaw 20.

Pressure on the arms l3 and 14 towards each other will cause the shell of the nut to crack without breaking the meat of the nut. The free ends of the lugs will come in contact with each other as the shell is completely broken; and these lugs therefore act as stops to further limit inward movement of the jaws 20 and 25. It will be seen by this construction that a nut cracker is provided which will break the shell of the nut without injuring the meat of the nut, because the crushing movement of the arms 13 and I4 is limited by the lugs l5 and I6 while the movable jaw 25 when properly adjusted will maintain the nut 32 in snug engagement with the jaws 20 and 25.

I claim:

1. A nut cracker comprising a pair of arms connected at one of their ends for relative movement, stops on each arm cooperating to limit their closing movement, one of the arms having a 4 recess adjacent the stop thereon and forming a nut receiving jaw, the other arm having an opposing longitudinal guideway extending through its stop and a wedge block movable in said guideway and forming in combination with said stop a second nut jaw.

2. A nut cracker comprising resiliently connected arms, a nut jaw formed on the inner side of one of the arms, the other arm having on its inner face a guideway undercut at its lateral edges and extending at each side of the area of the aforementioned jaw, a wedge shaped member slidably mounted in the guideway and forming a second nut jaw cooperating with the first mentioned jaw to accommodate nuts of various diameters, and lugs on the respective arms for limiting the closing movement of the arms positioned between the inner edges of said jaws and the connected ends of the arms and forming portions of each of said jaws.

WILLIAM M. GALLAGHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 201,187 Markle Mar. 12, 1879 1,368,446 Madsen Feb. 15, 1921 1,482,018 Leonard Jan. 29, 1924 1,665,557 Miller Apr. 10, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 204,363 Germany Nov. 21, 1908 348,900 Germany Feb. 20, 1922 659,185 Germany Apr. 27, 1938 193,636 Great Britain Mar. 1, 1923 

